Chris Casey is a winner who demands excellence from his players, his coaching staff, and himself. His success on the gridiron proves his approach is a winning one. The veteran coach now enters his 12th year at Fox - and his 11thNCAA season - in the fall of 2024. Casey most recently stewarded the team to a fifth-place NWC finish with a 4-6 overall record, a 3-4 NWC record, and coached one D3football.com All-Region and 13 All-Northwest Conference players in 2023.
In his eleven years at the helm to date, Casey's leadership has produced 89 All-Northwest Conference honors, two NWC Players of the Year (Charles Riga and Daniel Campos, defense), 15 CoSIDA Academic All-District athletes, eight D3football.com All-West Region players, one AFCA Division III All-American, one CoSIDA Academic All-American, four D3football.com All-Americans, and a pair of Cliff Harris award finalists.
Before turning over his role as the defensive line coach in 2020, Casey coached one All-American, 11 All-NWC players, and five Team of the Week winners on the defensive front.
Despite a rocky start, the Bruins ended their season on a strong note in 2023, winning three out of their last four games. This jumped them up two spots in the conference standings, and led to them being picked to finish third in the 2024 NWC Preseason Poll.
The Bruins exploded to new heights in 2022, with Leon Johnson becoming the first Bruin to be named First Team All-American by the AFCA. The Bruins set a new standard with eight wins on the season - a program record.
In 2020-21, the Bruins split a home-and-away series with Pacific (Ore.) in a limited season affected by the COVID outbreak. The Bruins had one player named All-American, Ethan Hoffman, and made great progress developing a young roster in all three phases of the game.
The 2019 season brought a 5-5 overall finish and a 4-3 Northwest Conference record for the Bruins, but there were multiple bright spots throughout the year. Daniel Campos was named NWC Defensive Player of the Year & a Cliff Harris Award finalist after leading the conference in tackles, and 11 Bruins were named All-Conference after the team finished in a tie for third in the NWC standings. Caleb Dalzell was named Academic All-District by CoSIDA and a D3Football.com All-American.
In 2018, the Bruins recorded their third straight winning season with a 6-4 overall record and a 4-3 NWC record. 13 Bruins were named All-Northwest Conference players for their play during the 2018 season and finished in a tie for third in the NWC standings.
The Bruins recorded their second straight winning season and made a splash in the national rankings in 2017. With a program-best 7-3 overall record and a 5-2 Northwest Conference record, the Bruins finished tied for second in the NWC standings - the highest finish to date. The Bruins received national attention after upsetting No. 21 Redlands and No. 22 Whitworth to crack the top-25 rankings. The Bruins spent four weeks ranked inside the top-25 and climbed as high as No. 19. Charles Riga became the first Bruin to earn NWC Co-Defensive Player of the Year, while Nolan Schuler became the Bruins' first-ever AFCA All-American.
Casey guided the 2016 season to a winning record of 5-4 and 5-2 in the NWC. It marked the first time since 1960 that the Bruins recorded a winning season. The Bruins made great strides on both offense and defense and even finished third in the NWC.
“The fan support is tremendous,” said Casey. “Our players and coaches speak often about how much our crowd energizes us and that we feel there is a real bond between our players and fans.”
The Bruins led the conference in attendance for three years following the program's reinstatement with more than 1,000 season tickets sold in each year and sellout crowds nearly every game.
After winning a state championship at Aloha High School, Casey took the reins of the newly instated football program at George Fox University for the fall of 2014 and quickly returned results. In just the second season the team earned four wins, national recognition, and solidified the successful return of the sport to the school after a 45-year hiatus.
Casey was selected from a national pool of candidates and was announced as the Bruins’ new coach in spring of 2012. The move to college head coach marked a homecoming for Casey, who grew up only a block from the George Fox campus in Newberg, Ore. His ties to the community include serving as a ball boy for the Bruin football program in the late 1960s and graduating from Newberg High School in 1976. His younger brother, Pat Casey, later served as head baseball coach at George Fox (1988-94) before taking the top baseball job at Oregon State University and winning two national championships. Another brother, Brian, serves as Newberg’s police chief.
Casey guided Aloha to the Oregon High School Class 6A championship in 2010. Before he arrived at the school in 2004, the Warriors had won only 17 games in the previous 14 seasons, and their playoff appearance in 2009 ended a 22-year postseason drought. He completed his run at Aloha with the 2012 football season.
Previously, Casey served as an assistant football coach, recruiting coordinator and baseball coach at his alma mater, Linfield College (1985-94), and as an assistant football coach and strength/conditioning coach at Whitworth University in Spokane, Wash. (1994-2004). He was also an assistant football, wrestling and baseball coach at The Dalles High School (1982-85).
Casey’s self-described “blue collar” coaching style emphasizes hard work and dedication, total commitment to the team, and embracing opportunity over obligation. He seeks to transform the lives of the student-athletes who join his program into men who will live their lives to excellence in all areas -- in their jobs, in their churches, and in their families.
“Having been a part of collegiate athletics for 32 years as a player and coach, I’ve experienced the importance of academics and athletics and the roles they play in developing young people,” said Casey.
“I’m thoroughly impressed with (George Fox President) Robin Baker’s commitment to the football program. It’s a tremendous opportunity to be a part of something that has infused enthusiasm on the campus, among our alumni, and in the Newberg community.”
Prior to his coaching career, Casey played football for Linfield from 1978 to 1981. He also played the sport at Mt. Hood Community College (1976-78) and suited up for football, track, basketball, and baseball at Newberg High (1972-76).
“Everywhere Chris has gone, the program has risen – he’s a winner,” said George Fox former director of athletics Craig Taylor. “In his 10 years at Whitworth, the team went from one of the worst in the conference to a league title. He did the same at Aloha, taking a down-and-out program all the way to a state championship.
“What really impressed us is the fact that he invests in his players and has high expectations of them academically. Coaching is more than just about football to him. He’s a man you’d want your son to be around.”
Casey and his wife, Kathleen have four children together: Lute, Kayleen, Michael, and Natalie.
GFU Milestones
First win: Lewis & Clark, 30-12 - 11/8/14
First NWC win: Lewis & Clark, 30-12 - 11/8/14
25th win: Pacific Lutheran, 37-14 - 10/12/19
